Method and apparatus for transmitting position information on a digital map

• US 8,185,306 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2008
• Issued: 05/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: T&M Data Update LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Adachi, Shinya
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): BEHNCKE, CHRISTINE M
• Application Number:
  US12/026,307
• Publication Number:
  US 20080198043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,568 Days
• Field of Search: 701/400, 701/409, 701/410, 701/420, 701/445, 701/446, 701/533, 701/534, 701/451, 701/450, 340/988, 340/993, 340/995.19, 340/989
• US Class Current: 701/451
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/30 Map- or contour-matching
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3819 Road shape data, e.g. outline of a route
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3889 Transmission of selected map data, e.g. depending on route
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096811 where the route is computed offboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096866 where the complete route is shown to the driver
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map

Abstract

The invention purposes to provide a position information transmission method for accurately transmitting a position and a shape on a digital map with a small amount of data.

In a position information transmission method of the invention, the transmitting side transmits road shape information to specify the target road section on a digital map and event information to specify an event position by using a relative position in the target road section and the receiving side performs map matching based on the road shape information to identify the target road section and identifies the event position in the target road section based on the event information is characterized in that the transmitting side intermittently selects nodes included in the target road section to include the coordinate data of the nodes in the road shape information for transmission, and that the receiving side performs map matching to determine the positions of the nodes included in the road shape information and obtains the road connecting the nodes by way of a route search to identify the target road section. It is thus possible to efficiently and accurately transmit an event position on a digital map.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a position of a road section on digital maps, each map containing errors, the digital maps including a first digital map and a second digital map, the second digital map showing the road section at a different position from the first digital map due to the errors,

said method comprising the steps of:

at a transmitting side having the first digital map,

selecting nodes from the road section on the first digital map on a predetermined condition;

creating position information of the road section on the first digital map by using coordinate information of the selected nodes and distance information between the nodes;

sending said position information of the road section;

at a receiving side having the second digital map,

receiving said position information of the road section;

determining positions on the second digital map, which correspond to the positions indicated by the coordinate information included in the received position information;

executing a route search between the determined positions using the distance information between the selected nodes indicated by the coordinate information included in the received position information;

identifying a position of the road section on the second digital map, which is different from a position of the road section on the first digital map due to the errors, as the position of the route acquired by said executing a route search step.

2. The method according to claim 1,

said selecting step includes selecting at least start node and end node of the road section.

3. The method according to claim 1,

said executing a route search step is searching the shortest route between positions of said selected nodes.

4. The method according to claim 1,

said position information includes coordinate information of a node on a intersection.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a number of the selected nodes is less than a number of intersections included in the road section.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selected nodes include nodes of a start point and an end point of the road section, and intermediate nodes which do not cause an error in identifying positions of the intermediate nodes or executing said route search at the receiving side.

7. A system for providing information indicating a road section on a first digital map to a receiving apparatus having a second digital map so that the receiving apparatus can identify the road section on the second digital map,

wherein each map containing errors, the digital maps including a first digital map and a second digital map, the second digital map showing the road section at a different position from the first digital map due to the errors,

said apparatus comprising:

at a transmitting apparatus having the first digital map,

means for selecting nodes from the road section on the first digital map on a predetermined condition;

means for creating position information of the road section on the first digital map by using coordinate information of the selected nodes and distance information between the nodes;

means for sending said position information of the road section;

at the receiving apparatus having the second digital map,

means for receiving said position information of the road section;

means for determining positions on the second digital map, which correspond to the positions indicated by the coordinate information included in the received position information;

means for executing a route search between the determined positions using the distance information between the selected nodes indicated by the coordinate information included in the received position information;

means for identifying a position of the road section on the second digital map, which is different from a position of the road section on the first digital map due to the errors, as the position of the route acquired by said route search.

8. A transmitting apparatus adapted for operating as the transmitting apparatus of the system according to claim 7.

9. A receiving apparatus adapted for operating as the receiving apparatus of the system according to claim 7.

10. A method for transmitting position information of a road section including coordinate information of nodes and distance information between the nodes from a transmitting apparatus having a first digital map to a receiving apparatus having a second digital map which shows the road section at a different position from the first digital map due to errors, wherein the receiving apparatus executes a route search using the distance information between the nodes indicated by the coordinate information included in the position information received from the transmitting apparatus to identify a position of the road section on the second digital map, which is different from a position of the road section on the first digital map due to the errors, as the position of the route acquired by said route search,

said method comprising the steps of:

selecting nodes from the road section on the first digital map on a predetermined condition;

creating the position information of the road section on the first digital map by using the coordinate information of the selected nodes and the distance information between the nodes;

sending said position information of the road section including the distance information between the nodes.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein a number of the selected nodes is less than a number of intersections included in the road section.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the selected nodes include nodes of a start point and an end point of the road section, and intermediate nodes which do not cause an error in identifying positions of the intermediate nodes or executing said route search at the receiving side.